The report, released by the Southern Poverty Law Center, documents the experiences of 500 immigrants in the South, finding that Latinos routinely are cheated out of wages, are denied basic health protection and fall victim to racial profiling.

“Under Siege: Life for Low-Income Latinos in the South” details stories such as that of a Tennessee woman who says she was jailed at a cheese factory for asking for pay, a bean picker in Alabama who says his life savings were taken by police at a traffic stop, and a rapist in Georgia who was not arrested because the suspect’s victim was an undocumented immigrant.

Forty-one percent of the people surveyed said they had experienced theft of their wages by employers. Forty-seven percent said they know someone who was treated unfairly by police. Seventy-seven percent of women surveyed said they have been sexually harassed by bosses, many saying that bosses used their immigration status as leverage.

“This report documents the human toll of failed policies that relegate millions of people to an underground economy, where they are beyond the protection of the law,” said Mary Bauer, author of the report. “Workplace abuses and racial profiling are rampant in the South.”

But such discrimination is also rampant nationwide, she said. The human-rights law center focused on the South because that’s the area the Montgomery, Alabama-based group knows best, she said.

Teodoro Maus, president of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, has heard thousands of discrimination complaints from Mexican immigrants during the past two decades.

“It’s absolutely correct that there’s generalized discrimination,” he told CNN. “There’s a general feeling that discrimination is valid because these people are illegal, because these people have no right to be here.”

But the attitude toward discrimination has changed throughout the years, said Maus, who was also the Mexican consul general in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1990 to 1994 and from 1995 to 2001.

“The big difference from previous years is that there were discriminatory acts before, but not the belief that discrimination is allowed,” he said.

Bolstered by what Maus called “an ultraconservative element,” some people “realized they could have open aggression against a group of people who could not defend themselves.”

Bernardo Mendez Lugo, Mexico’s deputy consul in Tucson, Arizona, said he sees three main forms of discrimination: racial profiling by law enforcement officers, problems in the workplace and difficulties in the rental housing market.

In the workplace, he said, employees often find they are passed over for promotions despite their qualifications or length of employment. The abuse, Mendez Lugo said, is generally aimed at undocumented workers.

“They are told, ‘I’m going to call immigration [authorities] if you keep asking,’ ” Mendez Lugo said.

Federal officials say there are more than 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Most of them come from Mexico and other Latin American countries.

The center urged the federal government to strengthen labor laws and crack down on racial profiling.

“We’re talking about a matter of basic human rights here,” said Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen. “By allowing this cycle of abuse and discrimination to continue, we’re creating an underclass of people who are invisible to justice and undermining our country’s fundamental ideals.”

Source: CNN

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Hispanic household food insecurity rate (17.9%) is twice as high as the rate for non-Hispanic White households (8.2%), the most food secure.6

In addition, Latino households with children have even higher rates of food insecurity; 21.6% of these households experience food insecurity compared to 11.8% of similar White households. Because of the dearth of resources in many Latino households, their ability to make food purchases is restricted.  While the typical non-Hispanic White U.S. household spends $45 per person each week for food, Hispanic households spend 25% less, just $33 weekly per person.7

A survey in the Journal of Nutrition found that some of the consequences of food insecurity include hunger pangs, fatigue, lack of concentration at school, low work capacity, stress, disrupted household dynamics, and distorted means of food acquisition and management. 9

Respondents to the survey reported depression, increased need for health care, and decreased participation in social activities. 10 Families will go to great lengths to keep their children from going hungry, which is why it is so alarming that many Latino children do not have adequate resources for a nutritious diet. Food insecure children are twice as likely to be in fair or poor health.11

Further, a survey of parents of low-income, young Latino children who are food insecure found that they are two times more likely to note developmental concerns, including risks of developmental delays or disabilities, than households with children who have adequate resources for food.12 Even small cognitive changes can have lasting impacts on a child s education. Even when a child experiences even mild levels of food insecurity, data suggest that school performance and social skills are comprised.13

The coping mechanisms associated within adequate food resources such as overeating when food is available, compromising the quality of food in order to consume higher quantities, and even skipping meals, which causes metabolic shifts can result in a higher propensity for weight gain. While food insecurity persists in the Latino community, there is also a rising trend of obesity. One recent study found that among Latino preschoolers children in the critical stages of growth nearly one-quarter (24.4%) were identified as obese.15

Food insecurity also has a broader impact on society. The increased risk for and severity of sickness and disease that results from food insecurity can create a demand for more physician time, extensive levels of treatment, and greater rates of hospitalization all of which require more money and resources. The health care costs associated with increased illness due to food insecurity not only fall on individuals who suffer from these effects, but ultimately add strain to the entire health care system.

There is also mounting evidence that the overweight and obesity trends in the United States are due, in part, to high levels of food insecurity.14

The educational benefits of participating in government assistance programs include contributing to families achieving a higher level of nutrition. Program participants are more likely than low income nonparticipants to lack confidence about their knowledge of good dietary practices and the quality of their diet. However, they benefit from nutrition education, which promotes consumption of healthier foods, a balanced diet, and physical activity. The results can be seen in the healthier choices they make in grocery stores.17 Further, the education of adult participants is likely to have lasting impact on the younger family members, encouraging children to make healthy choices in and outside of the household. Although it is difficult to establish a direct causal relationship between participation and health outcomes because of the added effects of the program on reducing poverty and improving socioeconomic status, data show that participants are able to make more deliberate choices that maximize the nutrition content of their food. In fact, despite rising obesity rates throughout the country for the population overall, women who
participated in the Food Stamp Program from 1999 to 2002 were less likely to be overweight and
were able to keep their weight relatively steady compared to nonparticipants.18

Document sampled from the House Committee on Agriculture website.

For more information on Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs visit: www.fns.usda.gov

The phone call revealed that “Ernesto” was a victim of domestic abuse and for that reason was forced to leave his home. His ex-wife has since denied access to their child despite his continued financial support. Desperate, “Ernesto” turned to the courts for help but was unable to garner neither legal representation nor a Spanish interpreter. These barriers prevented him from communicating to the judge that his ex-wife had a history of both domestic and alcohol abuse. After hearing their testimonies, the judge ruled in favor of the mother because “Ernesto” could not provide receipts documenting payments made to support their son.

Determined to protect his child, “Ernesto” will fight to have his case heard before a circuit court. Unsure of how to approach such a process, he turned to Acceso Hispano for help. Jairo Valencia patiently listened to this father’s story and immediately connected him with organizations in the Acceso Hispano Community Service Directory. These resources are located in his community and will provide counsel for “Ernesto” as he fights to overcome legal, cultural and social challenges in the battle for the wellbeing of his child.

Like the thousands of other people who call the Acceso Hispano Helpline, “Ernesto” is in a difficult situation – but he is not alone. Jairo Valencia and the rest of the Acceso Hispano team will continue to provide support to this father and will follow-up on his story.

by Janessa Nickell

Foundation (SRF) launched a pilot Spanish-language human trafficking public awareness campaign featuring a major media and grassroots outreach campaigns in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland to build awareness and to assist the local human trafficking programs and services in increasing reported cases of human trafficking. This targeted, cross-platform 4 week communications strategy, which launched in December of 2009, was designed to reach victims and engage local Hispanic communities in identifying and rescuing victims of human trafficking.

Working together with members of the Washington DC Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, the DC based-AYUDA, Inc., Polaris Project, and Hispanic Communications Network, Self Reliance Foundation delivered a high-impact Spanish-language educational multimedia campaign in the DC metropolitan area that delivered critical information on human trafficking and promoted critical information and key services to the local Spanish-speaking population. The integrated media campaign included 28 bus and 16 bus shelter posters that were located in predominately Hispanic neighborhoods, resulting in more than 5 million media impressions. An innovative call-in media campaign included phone card messaging to 550,000 Spanish-speaking consumers. Radio spots ran on 4 local Spanish stations resulting in 785,000 media impressions, and a live call-in radio program featured bilingual experts who provided detailed facts, information and resources to listeners. The campaign included television spots that ran during popular programs on local Univision and Telemundo stations resulting in more than 750,000 impressions.

The campaign offered a toll free hotline that received more than 3,000 calls during the campaign period. The calls received were primarily from individuals who were potential victims of a wide variety of potential trafficking issues including labor exploitation, unfair labor, domestic violence, sexual exploitation. Self Reliance Foundation’s Acceso Hispano Helpline (Linea de AYUDA) provided quality bilingual information and referral to our nonprofit partners AYUDA and the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and other local service providers.

To reinforce the media campaign’s message, SRF collaborated with the Hispanic-serving community and faith based partners to disseminate the campaign’s public education materials, and develop interpersonal grassroots outreach efforts to engage potential “Good Samaritan” members of the greater Hispanic community in the campaign. Our strategy of “in the air” and “on the ground” marketing efforts were designed to meet our goals of increasing the number of community members who are understand how to identify human trafficking victims, are aware of the purpose and services of the local service providers, and ultimately are willing to work with the these groups to identify, rescue, and assist human trafficking.

The Orange County Register reported that more than $2 million in college scholarships will be awarded this year to Latino students through the Washington, D.C.-based Hispanic College Fund, program officials have announced.

The scholarships range from $500 to $10,000 and are based on merit and financial need.

Last year, five Orange County students won a Hispanic College Fund scholarship, out of 592 recipients total.

More than 500 students nationally are expected to receive a scholarship this year.

“Hispanics are the fastest-growing population in America, and we owe it to them – and our country – to make sure that young Latinos pursue higher education and productive careers that will strengthen our economy,” the scholarship fund said in a statement.

To qualify, undergraduate and graduate students must maintain a 3.0 out of 4.0 GPA; be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident residing in the United States or Puerto Rico; be enrolled full-time at an accredited university for the 2010-2011 school year; and demonstrate financial needs.

Santa Ana native Uriel Guadarrama, who received a $4,000 scholarship, attends USC, where he’s majoring in international business and Chinese.

“The HCF scholarship has been a blessing to myself and to my family,” Guadarrama said in a statement. “The financial support that I have received has made it easier for me to focus on my academic and career goals.”

The scholarships are supported by a number of private donors, including Denny’s, Ford Motor Company Fund, Google, Kaiser Permanente, the Manuel Candamo Memorial Scholarship, Verizon, PepsiCo, and J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.

To apply, go to http://scholarships.hispanicfund.org.

Source: www.ocregister.com

Over the same months, blacks in the state have been 50% more likely to die of H1N1 flu than whites, according to the report.

“Not everybody has been impacted equally” by H1N1, said state epidemiologist Dr. Gilberto Chavez during a briefing this morning. Chavez said statistics have shown “very important racial disparities” in H1N1 mortality and hospitalization rates.

Chavez said blacks were three times as likely as whites to be hospitalized with H1N1 flu, and Latinos twice as likely. He said Native Americans, who make up most of the “other” category in state H1N1 data, are also more likely to be hospitalized and die of H1N1 flu than whites.

There are several reasons for the higher mortality and hospitalization rates among those minorities, Chavez said. Blacks and Latinos have high rates of chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and obesity, that studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate put them at greater risk of catching the flu, Chavez said. They also tend to have less access to healthcare and wait longer to seek help, he said, which reduces the chances for successful treatment with antiviral medication.

“For cultural reasons, they may be waiting too long to seek care,” Chavez said. “This gives us an idea of who we need to target for outreach and immunizations.”

With the launch of the head count weeks away, the Census Bureau’s outreach has been falling short in at least a dozen major cities, such as Chicago, Dallas, New York, San Jose, Calif., and Seattle, according to a report released Monday by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Many of their states are on the cusp of gaining or losing U.S. House seats and face a redrawing of legislative boundaries that may tilt the balance of political power.

The report generally praises the Census Bureau for improved efforts since 2000. But noting the large ramifications of even a small undercount, AALDEF is critical of the Obama administration. The legal group cited the government’s refusal to give fuller assurances that census data would be kept confidential and to suspend large-scale immigration raids during the count , as was done in the 2000 census. AALDEF said it wasn’t ruling out legal action to get stronger guarantees.

“We are running the risk of a real undercount,” said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. “The next few weeks will be critical.”

The Census Bureau is printing instruction guides and sample forms in dozens of different languages for use in community help centers, since one in five residents speak a language other than English at home. But there have been errors due to poor translations, including material for Vietnamese speakers that describe the census as a “government investigation.”

Other gaps included a lack of specialists for the Bangladeshi community in Detroit; the nation’s third largest Korean-American population in Chicago; and the south Asian and Cambodian groups in Philadelphia and Rhode Island. In Virginia, when groups cited a need for census specialists for their Korean and Vietnamese communities, the agency responded by hiring someone who spoke Chinese.

Responding, the Census Bureau has emphasized it is devoting a large amount of its $133 million ad campaign to racial and ethnic audiences, including television spots in 28 different languages. It also worked with more than 150,000 business and community groups, hoping to build trust in its message that filling out the 10-question census form is safe and easy to complete.

To encourage participation, Census Director Robert Groves on Monday visited neighborhoods along the U.S.-Mexico border near Laredo, Texas. As many as half the residents were missed there in 2000 because they had little knowledge of English and feared being turned over to immigration agents.

Other trouble spots:

Latino groups are worried the Census Bureau’s ad campaign may neglect communities with higher numbers of immigrants in poverty. Census-takers also may be less adept in navigating some areas because of an agency requirement that employees be U.S. citizens.

In 2000, the Census Bureau noted for the first time an overcount of 1.3 million people, due mostly to duplicate counts of more affluent whites with multiple residences. About 4.5 million people were ultimately missed, primarily lower-income minorities.

To read the complete article click here

Source: www.philly.com

NCLR designed this student-friendly resource handbook to help undocumented students better prepare for postsecondary education options and, in particular, a college degree.

The guide presents information on state-level initiatives which offer in-state tuition to undocumented students as well as information on the “Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.” In addition, students will learn about college requirements, means of fundraising for college, and academic and extracurricular activities which pave the way to college.

To read the guide, click here.

We need help from partners like you to reach homeowners in your area with our important information to:

• Alert them about scams
• Help them spot a scam before it’s too late
• Encourage them to report scammers to authorities

Joining the nationwide public education campaign is easy!

Simply access the toolkit of ready-made graphics, creative elements and written materials for distribution in your community. Some campaign materials are downloadable directly from this page, while others will be available on-demand for purchase through the